Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-12-29
An Early Morning Adventure.


An Early Morning Adventure.
About turce years ago two young
men, w liter kobb ms AMI ohm Ben
net, OPP rLtves in Lynn shoe factory.
find ny thrm-el es unable to save up
much money by their work. and DIES
pairing OF CITING abe I'd much at the
east, turne all tne.r po>s, .ssions into
cash, went out to yom no territory
and embarked in the bus ness OF sheep
farming. "ney located ON one of the
tributary creeks OF the NOR h Platte
r.ver. at the foot of the mountains.
Very earl, one mornin :. not long
ago they aughtered a fat sheep anu
hung it NJ to the NIB of pine tree.
few yards away from the door of The
: shack, or slab h )use Then while
Robb rs drrs ed tie sheep, emmett
pro ceded 10 get breakfast, and fir Cd
mess of the resi- shrep's liver.
Breakfa t cing ready about the time
that Robbins finished his task, bis part
ner called him in, and the at down at
Ia le ms de t. eat While they were
thus ayrreabIy oCcrpied, thy were
suddenly disturbed by the cracking OF
the pine boughI, and heard a thud as
Of some he IVY body falling 10 the earth.
They ro-e hastily from the table and
stepped o the door. and Were aston sh-
ed by the ght Of ii large tawny colored
ANNUAL. making of with their mutt N!
1t was mounta n lion which had
20 G boldly up to the shack waile they
were eating, and leaping among the
branches her. the carcass hung, had
roken the " down and secured the ell
ire sheep!
After one hasty glance, they both
.urne to sn tch down Their Nv inches
GERS, and Robbins, grtt NJ out little
ahead fired several shots ut he creature
IS it loprd OF up the narrow val cy OF
The creek But the act We movements
Of the animal, notMi hNand ng the
weight of mutton It was FRYING, PIE
ven ed him fro II gctt NJ good al y,
and he failed TO touch the creature
The lion kept its course up the canon
for several hund ed yards, and then
dIsappeaIe in one II the deep. narrpw
guI"hes or draws that open ou5 into the
creek Va ley.
"Ie's gone into that draw!' said
Wa ter cNc ely. Now we Ii get him
ii he hasn't got deep DIN there.
You 90 rou 1t on top of he h Ii, to the
head OF the draw. JOIN. and ii 20 in o
he draw; d # don't DOT INN IN
there, >ou,Il get a good shot as he
come out.
" II right" said pennptt. but be
sure and cave me t me oaouyh to make
the he OF the draw
Gun in hand the two men started at
run. BenGett went up over the blu 5,
and Robb rs hurried up tn. bed OF tue
gulcn
Walter soon reached the entrance to
the draw viii Vas nicely q deep
70 Ky ten, thicAly crown to buffalo
berry bushes and stuuted ri es. Here
he waited. urtl he thought Bennett
must surely ave reached the lead of
the draw. III ugh, owing to Il sha p
curve n the ra,ine. VIII CHI proven ed
HIM from 5, eng. he was not able to
detrrm ne the fact e then started
hurr eddy up the narrow bush-grown
waterway. at the bottom, holding his
rifle in read n s. for 5 OF.
He soon found h mself entering a
gloomy, pocAet-like ravIne, with sides
rough, steep and forb id NJ. He a ter
wards ahm ted thot he knew it to be II
rash undertaking but he was Diet r
mued TO have satisfaction for that
mutton and pushed on with more haste
than prudence. scramb ing over bould-
ers that lay in the bed o the waterway,
and forcing a passage through lhickets
of brush that ovrrhnng 1t. A the
time, too, he kept sharp lookout for
the panther hich he expected to stnrtle
out OF its hiding place by the noise OF
his approach
He did start the creature pres nifty,
an knew that he was on its trail; for
upon several of the big rocks which lay
at the bottom he discovered traces of
blood where the fresh carcass had been
dragged over them.
A m ,mcut latrr he came to a sharp
curve in the gulch, formed by point
of rocks iutt no out into it. Herr the
water bed suddenly wi ieDed to Il p at
Of hard earth, ovcrhung an 'rkene'i
on one side by low. beetling ledge of
red rocks, and shut out on tn Oth-r bv
b-usIy slope. so steep and ragged
that man would have foun it difficult
to climb
The sun was not YET very high. and
the whole gulch was still in shadow; SC
that although Walter had now brought
himself face 10 face with the pant her
he was first made aware Of It's prese zee
by II low snarl ng that came from the
I base OF the pro. ccti"g ledge.
Even then, 50 da k was the place
I l.. 4 4. L..
a. he could tn see h m Then he caught
first the yellow 81 am OF the creature.
eyes and then the outline of lis body
drawn up in angr atitud :, against {
dark red ,ckgrOur d of rocks. ht
beast clearly meant mischief. and had
no notion Of relreating from its lail
under the ledsos.
I Rob ms levelrd his Winchester and
with hands that shook W tn excitement
took as good n as h. could. ht
hammer clicked rs hrpulled the trigger
but tBcre was 10 report
tie ihre the lever forward quickly
and loo ed to see what was the m liter
/ The barrel was empty. h re was no
a cartridge in the magazine
He hal, W thout being aware of 1t
fired all the cartridg' s Ihere we're n thu
gun at the panther as il ran f.om thu
Pine tree: and hi cartridge belt, at tina
nome t, lay in the sha k In his haste
and excitement he had been grossl,
and stupidity careless.
For an instant he stood still, staring
at the beast. which, still crouchius
there, dashed its 81 cs and threatened
him with ferocious snarls and fl ght'
full splay Of its bloody mouth ant
wicked look ng fangs
He was about to risk retreat. back
ward. for he was afraid to turn b 5 fact
from the brute. whea be heard Bennett